Journal of Political Sociology

Transnational solidarity in the world of work? Theoretical framework applied to the European Minimum Wage Directive

Ilana Nussbaum Bitran, Irene Dingeldey — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Taking the European Minimum Wage Directive as an example of solidarity in the EU, we develop a theoretical framework showing different forms of solidary action and discussing them on the transnational level. We reconstruct three types of solidarity-based form of actions that were present in the discussion of the Directive and ask which this forms have been enacted by whom and which role played bridging and bonding elements. We conclude that these elements are important to form interest groups that pushed for the development (or not) of the regulation, which in turn serves as a solidarity measure in the EU.

Transnational solidarity in times of the pandemic crisis in the European sectoral social dialogues of commerce and social services

Franziska Laudenbach, Philipp Gies — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

During the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, social partners were involved into crisis management at different levels. Besides the company and the national level, social partners increased their activities at the European sectoral level. Considering this transnational collective action as an act of solidarity in European employment relations, this paper analyses bridging and bonding as processes allowing for transnational collective acts of solidarity. Based on empirical evidence of case studies of the sectors commerce and social services, the paper shows that the European social partnership serves as a framework allowing for trustful collaboration within which coalition building appears to be “a natural”.

Transcending Borders? Horizons and Challenges of Global Tech Worker Solidarity

Valentin Niebler — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

While the reach of tech firms has become planetary, the counterpower of their workforces often remains local. The article explores the challenges and opportunities to transnational solidarity among tech workers, the higher-paid employee strata of tech companies. Based on three recent cases of transnational organizing, I argue that three markers stick out in the efforts: informal organizing instead of institutional power-building, the importance of labour migration and the surprising lack of using structural power to this date. The articles concludes that tech worker organizing can learn from the conflicts of lower paid gig workers in the industry and institutional developments geared toward transnational worker representation.

Bringing Labour Markets Back in: Inclusionary and Exclusionary Solidarities in Platform Delivery Work in Italy and Belgium

Ladin Bayurgil, Claudia Mara', Valeria Pulignano — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This research showcases the ways in which the labour market informs the formation of different types of solidarities among platform workers. Building on qualitative research that focuses on the delivery sector in Italy and Belgium, we demonstrate diversity in forms of solidarities built among platform workers. While in Italy, in- and out-group boundaries, particularly those based on language and ethnicity, are successfully crossed by platform workers resulting in what we describe as inclusionary solidarities, in Belgium, they remain rigid resulting in exclusionary solidarities. Our findings demonstrate that two distinct forms of solidarity are informed by the functioning of labour markets, which shape workers’ options for exit outside of the platform world and hence the degree of platform dependency. These processes contribute to the creation of variegated understandings of self and others at work and in the labour market at large that in turn inform the ways in which workers relate to one another and form solidarities.

Building Platforms Differently

Jonas Pentzien — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

How do alternative conceptions of exchange emerge and proliferate within platform capitalism? Drawing on research at the intersection of organizational theory and social movement studies and a data set of 18 interviews, this paper examines the strategies that founders of cooperatively-structured platforms employ to gain legitimacy for their novel organizational form. Three key findings are presented: First, to facilitate network extension, activists strategically encroach upon adjacent fields. Second, to ensure economic survival, activists either create sustainable ‘subcultures’ within existing fields or attempt to mobilize entirely new consumer audiences. Third, to compensate for a lack of resources, activists strategically cultivate ‘community.’

Islands of Trust in a Sea of Locational Competition

Hendrik Simon — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

How can workers develop solidarity across national borders, when in fact they are, at least potentially, in locational competition with each other? One possible answer is the establishment of transnational trust among worker representatives. This article delves into this argument, specifically examining the International Network Initiative (Internationale Netzwerkinitative, NWI) implemented by IG Metall. Drawing upon participatory research conducted from 2016 to 2023 and focusing on the NWI-project of Lear, a tier-1 automotive supplier, I argue that charting islands of transnational trust in the sea of locational competition is ambitious – but nonetheless possible.

Interview with Gianpaolo Meloni from the Amazon EWC

Marcus Franke — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Gianpaolo Meloni started working for Amazon in 2012 in a facility center in Piacenza, Italy. After getting involved in union work over years within the work of amazon, he became an essential part of the team negotiating to found the European Work Council (EWC) in Amazon starting at the end of 2018. The negotiations came to a successful conclusion in 2022 and the EWC began its work with the first meeting in April 2023 with Gianpaolo Meloni as the elected EWC secretary.

Editorial

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

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